Weeks have gone by since Kat was discharged from the hospital. Her wound has healed, only leaving a scar just below her ribs, and she can fight as well as ever before even without her powers. Memories from her Titan life are returning with every day she spends with her team, but she only gets small pieces of memories a day.
Kat back flipped to the pillar behind her as she avoided another energy arrow, pulling up her shield to block the last two that were soaring straight for her. Even without her powers, she was still capable of using her barrier shield. She grabbed her shurikens before throwing them at the last of the arrows, causing them to explode in mid-flight. The gym was covered in smoke, and using this to her advantage, she jumped to next pillar as she searched for Speedy. However, when the smoke cleared and she was in the spot she knew she had seen him in, he was gone. She looked around trying to find him, but she didn't see him. She heard the rope of a bow being released, and more arrows were whizzing towards her. She spun around, pivoting to her left to dodge them. An explosion went off behind her.
"You're getting better…" she heard him say. At least he's not insulting me…she thought.
"If you think that's good, just wait till you see what I do next…" She pulled out her ice disks and made sure her shurikens were ready before she threw the disks. She knew he would dodge the first few, so she threw two more and two shurikens not seconds after at the spot he would end up at. He stopped, eyes widen in shock as the tips of the shurikens hit the disks, setting them off in front of the archer (yes, this is just like the episode where Robin fights Madam Rouge…). Half of his body was frozen while the other half was trying his hardest to get out. Seeing her chance, she ran at him, her foot connecting with the ice. The ice barrier shattered, but not able to react fast enough, Speedy couldn't block the punch that slammed into his face. He landed hard on the surface of the column they stood on, sliding to the edge of the pillar with a groan. His bow fell at her feet, and she casually picked it up.
Kat walked over to him, smiling before putting a hand out for him to take. He glared up at her before taking it, getting back up onto his feet. He dusted himself off before he looked up at Kat who was holding his bow out in front of her.
"Here…I think this is yours," she said, grinning up at him. He snatched it from her hand,
"Well, no duh it's mine," he snapped, "Do you see any other archer here?" He swung the bow around to hit her in the head, but she brought up her arm, effectively blocking it. Not giving up his attempt to strike her, he continued swinging the bow, going for her head, her legs, her upper body, but with each attempt came a fail as she defended herself. Seeing an opening, Kat spun before round house kicking the archer's side. He took a few steps backward.
"God damn it!" he cursed, "I'm done today!" With that, he stalked off, heading back into the tower. Kat wanted to run after him, but the look Bee was giving her from the control room window told her not to.
"Kat, great job today. You seriously kicked Speedy's butt today!" her leader said through the speaker, "Now, why don't you come on up here so we can talk…" She nodded her head.
"I'll be there in a few minutes…" she shouted, getting ready to take the long trip up the stairs to the control room.
"Wait!" She stopped. "Why don't you use your jets this time? I can open the window so you can fly in."
"Alright," she agreed, "but how do you activate them again?"
"You have to hit your heels against something, but you have to hit both of them because they activate separately." She muttered an okay before looking down at her boots. An idea formed in her head as her grin widened. Stepping up to the edge of the pillar, she kicked her right foot out before hitting her heel against the column. She flipped and then hit her left heel against the concrete before flying up to her leader who had opened the window for her. She shut off the jets before a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind; a warm kiss was placed on her cheek.
"Good job fighting today, sweetie," Aqualad whispered into her ear, "You're getting better every day, and I give you a ten for the flip." She chuckled,
"Thanks." Someone in the room cleared their throat, causing both teens to look up. Their leader stood there, shaking her head but with a smile on her face.
"You guys are way too much," she muttered, "Now, Kat…any new memories popped into your head today?" The girl shook her head, still grinning up at her Atlantean as he hugged her, trailing kisses up and down her neck. Bumblebee sighed, "Garth…OUT!" The violet eyed boy gazed up at his leader with pleading eyes, begging her to let him stay, but she shook her head and pointed her finger towards the door. "Out…now! Kat can't concentrate when you're here…"
"Fine…I'll be in the kitchen when you're done in here," he whispered into Kat's ear before pressing one last kiss to her head and walking out of the room. Caught in a daze for several seconds, Kat didn't realize that Bumblebee was still trying to talk to her. Her leader snapped her fingers in front of the girl's face, trying to gain her attention. Bee couldn't take it anymore as she smacked Kat upside the head. "Kat! Focus!" Said girl jumped before looking up at her leader.
"What?" she asked innocently. Bee mentally slapped herself at the girl's response.
"Did you have…any more memories…pop into that…very distracted mind of yours?" she asked slowly. The girl shook her head. "Well, what do you have so far?"
"Let's see," she started, looking up at the ceiling of the room while she thought, "I have the memory of our last Fourth of July party; the one where we spent the entire night on the roof eating barbeque and watching the fireworks, as well as Speedy's 'finale' when he set off that giant rocket. I also remember the Christmas that Mas and Menos destroyed the entire main room by accident when they knocked the tree over, and we had to celebrate Christmas with Titans West, and that was also the day that me and Speedy first…" She paused, looking down at the ground, and Bee knew why.
"You two got pushed under the mistletoe by Gar and Kori, and you kissed. I remember…actually, we all remember that one," Bee prompted. She looked at Kat whose face fell in grief. "Hey…what's the matter?" she asked softly, lightly touching the girl on the shoulder.
"It's Roy…he's still pissed at me," she replied, "and what upsets me more is that it's because of the fact that I'm with Garth. It's not my fault…well, not entirely my fault, that I couldn't remember that me and him were…" She sighed, "…together before, and when I woke up and Garth was being so kind and sweet and helpful…I just—I hate the fact that he won't even look at me without having some witty comment, insult, or just a glare to give me. He won't even look at Garth anymore! They were starting to become friends, and I ruined it!" She pounded her fists on the control panel in the room as she vented; Bee patting her back in support (Yeah…great job Bee…).
Kat continued, "And what makes it worse it that I'm remembering all the memories of me, Garth, and him hanging out and just being…happy…like our trips to the beach to stare at the stars, and all those times we would go out and just walk around the city. Seeing these memories, it just makes me wonder," she looked up at Bee, "What happened? And is there any way I can fix it?"
Bumblebee wrapped her arms around Kat in an attempt to cheer her up, but the girl just pushed her away, and began walking towards the door. "Look, Kat, you can't be too upset about this. Garth likes you, and so does Speedy. This is your call to make…you have to choose what to do…" Kat whispered an okay. "Are you going to be alright?" She nodded her head in response to the girl's question.
"I'll be fine…Garth should know how to make me feel better," she answered. Yeah, and I'll try talking to Speedy. Maybe he'll actually say something nice to me…As if reading her mind, Bee turned on her,
"Kat…and maybe you should hold off on Speedy for awhile." She glared at her leader,
"Come on! It's been how many weeks already?" she exclaimed, "If I don't talk to him about this, he'll probably never stop acting like a jerk towards me and Garth…and I'll never be able to apologize because he won't want to listen to me anymore. Please, Bee…" She shook her head.
"Just wait a little longer. He needs to learn to get over this himself because he's just being incredibly stubborn. If he's not over this in a few more days, then I'll let you talk to him, okay?" A growl formed in Kat's throat, but she held it in, nodding her head.
Walking up the stairs to the kitchen, she hoped to see Aqualad sitting on the counter, but he wasn't there. She let out a sigh before grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge and walking over to the railing that allowed her to peer into the living room and the pool that were underneath her. The twins were playing their Gamestation down below, and Speedy sat on the opposite side of the couch, reading a magazine. Kat took a sip from her water as she watched the twin's game, but when she gazed back at Speedy, he was gone. She leaned forward against the railing, looking back and forth while trying to find the archer, but he was nowhere to be found. She felt an arm wrap around her waist, and the water bottle fell out of her hand and over the railing as she jumped in surprise, a squeal escaping her lips. However, the water didn't hit the ground, just the bottle, as it floated in the air.
Kat looked up to see Aqualad standing behind her, controlling the water as he held his other hand up in a fist. He looked at her apologetically before kissing her head.
"Sorry…I went back to my room to change. I-I-I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine," she replied, pushing away from the Atlantean and walking back to the kitchen. He let his gaze follow her as she plopped herself down on the counter. She grabbed a chocolate kiss from the bowl next to her before unwrapping it and eating it. That's weird, Aqualad thought, pushing the water until it was over his pool and letting go of the liquid as it poured into his tank, She never eats those chocolates. They're there every day, and she's never touched them once. He walked over, watching as she popped another piece of chocolate into her mouth. The Atlantean brought his hand up and brushed away a few pieces of stray hair that had fallen in front of the brown-eyed girl's face.
"You okay?" he asked, trying to look into her eyes, but she didn't say anything. She thought that Garth would be able to make her feel better, but now looking at him, all she could feel was guilt. His face was a reminder of why Roy was mad at her. She tried not to look at him. It was wrong for her to not though because…they were together. Hurt and confusion filled Aqualad's eyes as he watched her avoid eye contact with him. "Kat…is something wrong?" She nodded her head, still focusing her gaze on the bowl of chocolate instead of his violet ones. She knew if she looked into his eyes, she would just melt into him. Finally, he gave up and took her face into his hands, forcing her eyes up to look at him. "Tell me…please." He brushed his thumbs across her cheeks.
Kat grabbed his hands, stopping him completely before moving his hands away from her face, "It's nothing," was her reply, and they both knew it was a lie. She tried to move away from the Atlantean, but he grabbed her wrists and forced her towards him.
"Please…tell me what's wrong," he begged her, holding her closer to his body, but Kat still didn't say anything. She just buried her face into the t-shirt he had changed into it, so she wouldn't have to look at him. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, rubbing her back soothingly, causing the girl to purr. "Can you at least tell me what this problem is about?"
She murmured something, but he didn't hear it, "Who?"
"Roy…" she whispered louder for him to hear, "The problem's about Roy…" She felt the Atlantean stiffen before he pulled away from her.
"Do you still…you know…li-"
"Oh no!" she interrupted him, "I don't like him…"Just a little actually. "…It's nothing like that. I just…miss him I guess." He looked at her confused, an eyebrow cocked up.
"You miss him? How could you miss him?" he asked, "You see him everyday…" A feeble smile formed on her face,
"I mean, I miss him hanging out with us. All the memories I have right now are of us only, and we're always smiling and laughing. I miss that. I miss the three of us spending time together and playing pranks on Bee, and running for our lives when she catches us. I miss Friday nights when we would stay up all night because we knew we didn't have training the next morning, and we'd just talk and tell jokes the entire time. I miss walking into the main room to see you two laughing, and lightly hitting each other as a joke, and how I'd run up and tackle you both." Aqualad wiped away the tear that had broken free from her eyes while she continued talking, more tears soon following. He knew if she kept going, she was going to break down, and he didn't want to see her cry. "I miss running down the beach, trying to outrun you two after dumping a bucket of sand on you guys. I miss-hmph," The Atlantean softly pressed his lips against hers, finally silencing her. Her eyes blinked open a bit before slowly drifting close on instinct as everything left her mind in an instant.
Pressing her against the counter behind her, Garth added more force behind the kiss, his hands placed lightly on her hips. His tongue snaked greedily into her mouth as the kiss deepened, and he could taste the sugary, sweet chocolate that was coating her mouth. He could feel the vibrations rumbling in her throat as she moaned. Her arms moved up and around his neck as she pulled him closer, and it wasn't long before Kat had melted entirely into the boy's arms, clinging to him as her knees threatened to give out beneath her. Everything she had talked to Bee about had left her train of thought. Not even Roy seemed to be worry to her anymore. Whenever she kissed her Atlantean, all she could think about was him and the kiss.
"Does Bee know we have a pair of Sucker Fish in this tower?" the archer's voice rang through their ears before the two teens pulled apart from each other. Aqualad glared at Speedy, a harsh tone in his voice as he spoke,
"Roy, why don't you just leave us the hell alone?"
"Aw, is fishy throwing a little temper tantrum because I interrupted him and his little girlfriend's make-out session?" Kat could feel the Atlantean beginning to tremble as he glowered at the archer, "Don't worry about me. You can continue sucking on her face all you want…I don't mind." He opened the fridge and began rummaging through the different items in the box, looking for something to eat while Kat and Garth just watched him. Well, Kat watched him before looking back up at Garth who was glaring daggers at the red head. Let's just say, if looks could kill, Speedy would be lying on the ground dead by now.
"Well, I do mind…Robin…" the archer went rigid, "…now leave!" Speedy stood straight up, shutting the refrigerator door harshly before turning on them, a deadly look on his face.
"What did you call me?" he snarled, grinding his teeth together. The Atlantean's lips curled into a smile, happy he was still able to get that kind of reaction out of the red head. He went to step closer, but Kat knew what was about to happen, and she stepped in front of him to stop him.
"Garth…let it go…" she pleaded, her hands resting on his shoulders to hold him back, but he ignored her, pushing past her to get closer to Speedy.
"I don't think I called you anything…Robin…" He smirked when the archer tensed once again at the nickname. In just a few seconds, Speedy had Aqualad by the collar of his shirt, his face inches from his as he sneered at him.
"I told you to never call me that," he snapped , "I am my own person! I am nothing like that spiky haired, egotistical, drama queen, boy wonder! You got that, unitard guy!"The Atlantean shoved the red head away from him, scowling at him.
"You're right…you are nothing like Robin," Aqualad growled, "You're more self-centered, more hot headed, and a bigger drama queen than any girl on this planet, that also including all the girls I knew underwater! You're extremely stubborn, and all you really care about is your hair! All you're ever doing is looking in that damn mirror of yours!" Speedy's glare worsened. "I mean, you spend more time in front of a mirror than any girl that I have ever met! That is just not right!" The red head was trembling in fury as he tried to hold himself back, so he wouldn't kill the other…even though he really wanted to.
"You know what's not right?" the archer snarled, "You stealing my girlfriend! She had absolutely no feelings for you at all, but as soon as she loses her memory, you're all like, 'Oh, hi I'm fishboy, wanna go out with me? Oh, Speedy who? No, he's not important!' and she's all like, 'Oh sure! Why not? You're being so sweet and nice to me, I'd to love to go out with you!' Yeah, just forget about me completely because I'm not a freaking prince from Atlantis! Actually…" he stopped for a second, "…I'm not an exiled prince from Atlantis!" This time, the archer turned to Kat, "Yeah, Kat…you probably feel so sorry for him! Fishboy got kicked out of his home, and you have to be all lovey dovey, googly eyed towards him."
"Hey!" Garth shoved him, "You leave her out of this!"
"Guys, please stop!" Kat begged, once again stepping in between the two boys, but something snapped inside of Speedy. His anger had risen to high, and he finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Kat, just SHUT UP!" His hand swung out and slapped her across the face with such force that she had to grab onto the counter top to keep from falling. Bumblebee and the twins rushed in just as the blow was made; the leader's questions getting caught in her throat. Kat's hand covered the spot on her cheek where he had hit her; the tears welling in her eyes in hurt and surprise. Speedy's own eyes widened before he looked back and forth between the girl and his hand. He couldn't believe it he did that.
"Kat!" Garth quickly moved to her side to help her, but she pushed him away, lowering her hand from her cheek to look up at the two boys. Even Speedy flinched along with the Atlantean when they got a good look at the damage. His hand print was nearly defined on the side of her face, redness completely overtaking her light complexion.
"Just stay away from me!" she sobbed, backing away from them. "Why can't you two just get along again instead of fighting like this? You two used to hang out so much, but why does that all have to change as soon as I find someone else to be with?"
"Because this 'someone else' is…or was my best friend!" Speedy retorted, "How would you feel if I started dating your best friend after breaking up with you?"
"I'd probably feel bad too, but I wouldn't go around hating my friend and be as stubborn as ever!" she screamed, "Look…" she gazed up at Bee before mouthing the words I'm sorry to her. She looked back at the archer, "…I'm sorry, okay, and if you don't think I feel guilty about any of this, you're wrong! I feel terrible! Not a day goes by that I don't feel bad about any of this, and you're insults and glares do not make me feel any better! I wish I could go back to the day that I left, so I could stop myself from leaving, and everything would just go back to normal! But I can't! Please…I just really want you two to start being friends again!" Kat turned to run, but she stopped before turning to look at the Atlantean, "Garth…I'm sorry, but we're done! You're very sweet and kind, but I can't take all this fighting anymore! Until you two stop arguing, I never want to talk to you guys ever again!" She bolted past Bumblebee and the twins before running to her room, but she didn't bother to lock it behind her. She slid down the face of the door crying, sitting down on the ground before hugging her knees close to her chest. The place on her cheek stung tremendously with every light touch she made to it.
Bee debated whether she should go talk to the girl, or send the twins instead, so she could yell at the archer and Atlantean. She chose the latter, "Mas, Menos, why don't you go check up on Kat and keep her company." They nodded their heads before zooming down the hallway to the girl's room. As soon as the doors behind her closed, Bee turned to look at the two boys who were trying oh so desperately to avoid her gaze before walking towards them. "What the hell is the matter with you two? You two just don't know when to stop? I mean, come on! You're fighting over a girl…that's just pathetic that you're letting it destroy your friendship!"
Aqualad tried to explain, "Bee, just listen-"
"No, you listen!" she pointed her finger in his face, "I am getting sick and tired of you two fighting! You're ruining the team because of it! Not only do I have to handle you two, I have to handle Kat with her guilty conscience, the twins because they're starting to get very curious about all this, and I don't want them to know, and also Robin and the other westers because of this whole Slade deal! Now, by the time I walk back into this room, I want you two to be the best of friends, you got that? Neither of you talk to Kat, or else you'll make this worst…when you two can finally sit in a room without killing each other, and I'll be the judge of that, then I'll let you go speak to her. Until then, you will sit at this counter, and you will talk, and you will listen to one another! Understood?" They nodded their heads in fear, and with one last huff, she made her way downstairs to the living room where she sat on the couch. From there, she'd be able to hear the two boys and keep an eye on them.
Garth sat down on of the stools in front of the counter before gesturing for the archer to sit in the one next to him. The red head let out a groan before taking a seat beside him. He grabbed the bowl of chocolates, sliding it in between them.
"Alright fish-…I mean Garth…" he began, snatching up a piece of chocolate, "…where do we start?"
Chapter 4 done! Thank Neptune! …Sorry, I'm starting to really like Aqualad/Garth! To those of my friends who are reading this story, that doesn't mean he's going to replace Speedy in my number one spot for favorite Titan! Next chapter, Slade is going to make his grand appearance…or is he? You'll have to read it to find out…as soon as I put it up I mean…
And there's a reason he needs Kat's power, but again, you'll need to keep reading! For those of you who are reading, THANK YOU! I hope you're enjoying it! Please review!